In 1972, he filed one of the first lawsuits in the history of the United States regarding the right of gays and lesbians to marry, after he and the late fellow activist John Singer were denied a civil marriage license at the King County Administration Building in Seattle, Washington.
[1] The nurse supported Barwick after his disclosure, and went with him to the University of Washington, where the Seattle chapter of the Gay Liberation Front was holding meetings once a week.
[3] After he outed himself in the presence of the students in Bremerton, he made the decision to move to Seattle to join a commune of LGBTQ activists, not returning to his job at the State Patrol, where he would have to remain in the closet.
[7] Many years later, Hara told The Seattle Times that he agreed with the pair, stating: "I thought it was wrong then and I still firmly feel the same way.
[9] King County Superior Court Judge Frank Howard rejected Barwick and Singer's claims of discrimination.
[10] In 1974, the Washington Court of Appeals upheld Howard's ruling, saying that the "auditor's office was within its right to make the refusal".
[10] The court also stated that marriage existed as a protected legal institution "primarily because societal values associated with the propagation of the human race".